In one of several related experiments exploring “embodied cognition,” the process through which our thoughts affect our perceptions, 40 people who had been unfaithful to their spouses (and evidently not admitted it) were asked to rate the difficulty of different physical tasks, such as carrying grocery bags upstairs. Those who said that the secret weighed on them rated the tasks as more difficult than those who carried the secret lightly.

In another experiment, “Those asked to write a recollection about a big secret rated a hill, depicted head-on, as being steeper than participants who wrote about a trivial secret.”

Biographies

Gary Rosen is the editor of Review and the former managing editor of Commentary magazine. His articles and reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. He is the author of "American Compact: James Madison and the Problem of Founding" and the editor of "The Right War? The Conservative Debate on Iraq."